crisis counselor

therapist

medical assistant

medical scribe

sonographer

UnityPoint Health

Typical R.N. day is over 12 hrs long and is frequently extremely stressful. Shifts are fast paced and often with minimal help. Everyone is pushed to the limit most of the time. Be prepared to stay over your shift even if you have to work the next day. The obstetrics department "scheduled on call" is a horrendous affront and a real insult to the OB Department Nurses. Meriter uses EPIC which had been downgraded after the Unity Point /Meriter merger. I feel the newer version is inferior to the previous version though this may have changed since I left but I doubt it. Meriter/Unity Point always seems to be short of CNA's with a high CNA turnover present. Management monitors all staff through CAMERAS and computer login times with continuous surveillance. Disciplinary actions hang over employees heads constantly and in my opinion this creates a very negative working environment. Forget breaks, just forget them. If you do get a break your lucky. Recent nationally reported Neonatal Intensive Care events and situations are quite concerning. I was dismayed to find the recent publicly published violations and infractions reported after inspections done by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. I believe Meriter/ Unity Point almost lost their funding over this debacle. It's quite possible that the hospitals reputation has been tarnished for years to come all due to some poor compliance decisions. I do not work at Meriter anymore and feel I am much better off for it. In closing, while it was rewarding for me to have saved many lives while I was working at this hospital, it was the poorly managed working environment that made me leave. I personally will not obtain medical services through Meriter/Unity Point. I am not recommending Meriter/Unity Point to anyone who asks. I hope you have gained some insights through my offered opinions of my experiences. I wish you the best in your job search. Good luck!

Responsible for working with the counselors, Medical Director, treatment team, and numerous insurance companies, to ensure the complete coordination of the patient treatment plan from admission through discharge. On a daily basis responsible for assessing the level of care according to the DSM IV/DSM V for the most appropriate level of care for each patient. This included chemical dependency,gambling, food, chronic pain that comes with addiction, and all other aspects  that come with addiction. Conducted multiple group therapy sessions every day utilizing the curriculum that was created to cover all dimensions of the DSM IV and DSM V. Inputted group notes after each session, separately for each patient profile, as a way to communicate with numerous insurance agencies about the progression of the patient throughout treatment. Also responsible for the precertification of the patient as part of the admission process by giving clinical and medical information, including any AXIS that a patient met for, that is required for the admission. On a daily basis, I deal with numerous dual diagnosis patients, and the care that is required to treat and focus on that. Adhere to the highest privacy standards implemented by HIPAA when dealing with patients and family. I am trained to perform Suicide Risk Assessments, in which I performed at The Addiction Recovery Center, Methodist Mental Health floors, and numerous Emergency Rooms.  
 
*Key Points – December 2014 I was chosen to be the Safety Resource employee for the Addiction Recovery Center by the Executive Director and Site Manager - responsible for making sure that all JACO standards are being met and that employees are educated on the safety standards of the facility. CPR certified through the American Red Cross.

The benefits are pretty good - dental, health, life, legal insurances, 401k match, FSA, hospital indemnity and supplemental life insurances are offered as well. They have an Employee Assistance Program, tuition reimbursement, paid on-the-job training and orientation. There's a great deal of flexibility in the hours one can work in a hospital which was great with younger children.

My position is chronically understaffed - to the point of having 1 of 5 positions staffed some shifts, others-especially night shifts - no one is scheduled. Not covering a shift is not an option as it is a vital role for patient safety.  Last year as a 0.7 FTE, I worked more than 300 hours of overtime despite being on medical leave for 3 months. I helped orient 13 new staff members in 9 months of 2021. 

HR is asking us to be flexible and work extra but it's not being flexible in absence allowances that reflect actual hours worked. It's getting to be too much all the time. We are burnt out.

Most of my coworkers are helpful, supportive, and encouraging human beings. I have been in my position for decades mostly because of the staff. Been through 3 managers who all claim to be doing what they can for staff but we generally don't see improvement. I believe they want better but can't fight the system to provide better.

I would say the pay needs to be higher for my role, but seems fair for other roles. There shouldn't be a cap on this position as it discourages loyalty and penalizes longevity. A person starting out fresh with no experience will be trained by someone with anywhere from 10-40+ years of experience, while that veteran staff member caps out of the pay range $6 ahead of the novice.

There's no room for advancement within this role. New skills will not lead to more compensation.

While I only worked for this organization for a short time as a floor nurse, I truly appreciate the opportunities that Iowa Lutheran Hospital/Unity Point Health offered me.  The educational opportunities are awesome.  There is a balance of work and home life.  The management was very caring and understanding and my fellow staff nurses were primarily wonderful people.  There are going to be a few complainers in any hospital, but that is just the stressors of floor nursing today.  The hospital was top-notch.  If ever I return to Iowa I hope to be employed by Unity Point Health again!

A typical day at work was 12 hour shifts on a busy med-surg-orth unit.  There were too many learning opportunities to mention, but I figured when I stop learning, I am probably dead.  My coworkers were a close-knit family that accepted me right in, despite the fact that my skills were rusty and needed polishing.  The hardest part of the job was those few people around me who were negative.  Floor nursing is tough today, but there are reasons that our jobs are getting harder, and it isn't all the fault of the organizations we work for!  Our patients are coming in sicker, with more complexity, and with less patient stay days alloted.  It means our jobs are going to be harder than ever before.  That is just nursing.

The most enjoyable part of the job was getting to know the patients and staff, feeling appreciated for my hard work, and feeling as though I was heard when an issue would arise - not only with my peers, but also with management.  I felt like I was a part of a cohesive team.  Even the physicians were mostly nice!

Billing and Credits are very underpaid. Pto is accrued at 7.34 biweekly.  Your accrued Pto is also used for your holidays and you have to set aside 16 hours before they will approve time off. If you want a 40 hr vacation you have to have 56 hours saved which is difficult if you have a family. 
The office is production based and your are accountable for gaps in your day. A work from home option is available after 6 mths of satisfactory employment but production doubles and they do not help you pay for internet. You also have to return once a week for any printing and meetings.  You have 30 mins for lunch but have to punch in and out at your desk so you arent really receiving a full 30 min lunch period. You are only alloted 3 missed days in a year before corrective action starts. You are allowed to punch 7 mins early but not 1 second later or a tardy is counted against you. The building is separate from the hospital but you still have to dress business casual no jeans, no scrubs. Gym shoes are allowed. You get a discount in the cafeteria and can swipe it to your badge to be taken from your paycheck. The first floor cafe in the hospital is also nice. I would definitely weigh your options. If you can sit in a cubicle all day and do not mind someone walking around checking up on you,  or dont have any responsibilities outside of lunch and breaks, then you will be fine. If you can't handle micromanaging and the fact everything is about policy , then this is definitely not the place for you.

Management for me was fabulous. Upper management was terrible. Surprisingly, even when they’re working everyone to the bone and we all barely scrape through the day trying to catch up with work, they still stick to the narrative that we're overstaffed. The clinics are rated quarterly and then annually and they talk big on the bonuses everyone gets if you’re a four or five star clinic. Rest assured, they only push these impossible and unrealistic goals onto the STAFF so the PROVIDERS get THEIR bonus. Which, good for them. I guess it’s quite a large sum. But that shouldn’t be the supporting staff’s main goal. You’d think maybe it would help keep patients happy and adequately cared for, but they just keep condensing appointments into smaller and smaller times to fit the volume. And patients feel rushed. As far as lab goes, we’d be drowning everyday. We’d be in charge of scheduled lab visits as well as provider visits if they ordered labs (which was all. the. time.). We had 8 providers and no elbow room. Circling back to upper management, complaining about overstaffing and then wanting to add a doctor or two in a clinic with no room for more of anything. I love love loved all my coworkers and they made the chaos bearable. We were a big tight knit family; if we hadn’t been I’m sure they’d have understaffing issues. Long story short, They will milk you dry. You’ll get burnt out. You’ll love your peers and patients. The PTO policy is unclear and not great. The benefits are terrible. You’ll feel rewarded and the days usually go by quickly. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The patients and the rewards from them for the care they received and a staff RN who put their care and compassion to care for the patients #1.  Nursing for the reason we most got into it.....to care for another as we would want our loved ones to be cared for.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Staff that is already there and how they treat new employees.  Even if they don't know this staff member has worked both roles of management and staff.  
It's really sad; those who want to push new employees out should find another job.  When a manager is told this, they should act on it.  The short-staffing from one staff member with many early years of staff nursing has changed so much that no wonder nurses won't stay anymore.  Not to get to eat for over 12 hours, no breaks, and the current workload is unbelievable, patient safety is a true issue.  That's why agencies are taking over but finding the same problem at much higher pay.  Who suffers?? the patients.  Some, probably more than we know, don't even really know how to work the floors.  My advice was to get everything signed off no matter what on time to avoid trouble from an agency nurse.  If you are a manager of any department,  you should be able to see how you can help your nurses and what needs to be addressed with upper administration if they'd look at it and learn, not have your own staff know you couldn't or never have worked the unit you manage.  Someone please help, address this or find a committee of nurses/managers/administration to start a performance improvement for patient care and staffing.  To whom from UPH will listen.

My opinion would have been different before a director from Broadlawns came over to fix the budget in mental health unit where i worked for almost 17 years. this man and a nurse manager and HUMAN RESOURCES was present when i was called into meeting. This man who knew me for three days told me my job was no longer and told me he was keeping other counselor who had history of abusing women and was turned in several times. This man told me it was because the other counselor had been there longer, i remember crying and in shock and then he said don't take it personally as cold as ice. the nurse manager with hate in her eyes told me to find a corner to cry in. I tried to stay on in a department i worked in the emergency room but he fought hard to get me out of there. My coworkers fought for me to stay but his judgement of me made it impossible. I know that it was due to my niece who was borderline and was admitted in unity point many time. This niece called my work and left a message but did not give name said horrible things about me that were not true but management kept in my file even though she said she would not because there was no evidence of truth. I went to a full time job at unity point where i was treated so bad i got so sick from the way i was treated i lost my self and have never been the same, im facing homelessness now because this new director made that decision that one day. i was a very hard worker and this man did not look at that but only focused on the bad

Firstly, they did not pay me our agreed upon wage. I acquired certifications for the job, under the notion that this would be bump me up into a livable wage. Nothing grandiose, but at the very least something I could pay the bills with. Guess how much that raise was. $0.37/hour. This kept me as the single lowest paid employee there (lower even than the cleaners, not that there is anything wrong with them, but just for contrast.)
Once I obtained the certifications they wanted, I already did not have the time to do all the things they wanted me to do, when suddenly, they immediately cut my hours and began lumping on extra duties.
The final straw came when another employee (a CNA) didn't do her job and get a LTC resident up for a music program (the ONLY thing this resident will leave her room for), and when I asked why she wouldn't get the resident up, the CNA responded "because I just put her in bed twenty minutes ago." I got kinda upset with her, and told her to do her job, and that the resident shouldn't have to go without because she was feeling lazy. I was immediately reported to management and written up, without anyone asking my side of the story...
bleh
I would highly recommend skipping out on applying here, unless you are completely desperate for health insurance. That is the one positive thing here - cheap/good insurance.

I was poorly trained to begin with. Another person started at the same time and more preference was given to them for superficial reasons. I was info dumped on over a period of a week max and then left on my own. I asked questions people would question my competence or training. I was left to drown while work peers and supervisors were well aware I needed help and was failing. I asked for accommodations and they gave me more clients. They only care about numbers. They made false promises that I would not be fired. I was making progress. Then I made the mistake of admitting I was autistic and my background more closely resembled my clients not my peers. But I countered that this made me better at my job. I also said I was dealing with burnout and really needed accommodations so I could do my job better. I was told it took a year to fully learn the job. I was fired after a year. Also, the company is likely blocking my attempts at getting work as well. They do not care about their employees. They say do not fraternize but all of the supervisors, directors, everyone operates on fraternization. Especially Eyerly Ball it is the only way to move up the ladder. They don't care how hard you work, how long you have worked for them or how far you came. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Crisis counselor 15 salaries reported	$23.50 per hour
Therapist 38 salaries reported	$28.47 per hour
Medical assistant 7 salaries reported	$18.79 per hour
Medical scribe 3 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Sonographer 10 salaries reported	$35.56 per hour

Working at UnityPoint Health: Company Overview and Reviews

UnityPoint Health

UnityPoint Health Ratings

Popular jobs at UnityPoint Health

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected